Portable house.



R. l. JOHNS.

PORTABLE HOUSE.

APPLICATl0N 'FILED DEC. 19. 1912. RENEWED OCT. 27. 1916.

1,218,665. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

ITNESSES I I v I M 1 1 Q 5%%M ATTORNEY R. I. JOHNS.

PORTABLE HOUSE. APPLICATION FILED DEC-19.1912- RENEWED OCT-27.1916.

1,21 8,665. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

ATTORNEY I ROBERT I. JOHNS, or NEW YORK, 1t. Y.

PORTABLE HOUSE.

m Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 19, 1912, Serial No. 737,585. Renewed October 27, 1916. SeriaI'No. 128,119.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT I. JoIINs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Houses, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to portable buildings and its object is to provide a simple and durable wall structure for houses, barns and the like, that shall be specially adapted for use in extreme climates and under adverse conditions, that may be packed in small space for transportation and that may be easily assembled, or dismantled into its constituent parts.

I will describe my invention in the following specification and point out the novel features thereof in appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garage or "barn constructed in accordance with my invention.

. Figs. 4 to 10 inclusive which are fully discussed hereinafter.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Referring to the drawings, the frame of the building here shown comprises in general foundation blocks 1010, angle beams 11, 11 and 12, 12 constituting sills, angle beams 13, 13, constituting corner posts, channel beams 14, 14 constituting uprights and crown beams 15 connecting the corner posts and the uprights nearthe top and increas ing the rigidity of the frame.

The corner blocks are preferably metal castings and have a notch 20 as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, adapted to receive the end of one of the sills, as for example the sill 12, the adjacent end of the sill 11 being secured to the top of the body of the block and fitted-into an angle or socket projection 21 thereof at a different level.

The post 13 abuts against the top of the block; and fits into and is secured to the angle or socket projection.

At the top, the adjacent ends of the crown beams are secured to the respective sides of the corresponding corner post.

Between the ledges formed by the ho zontal sides of the sills 12, a plurality df floor beams 3 are located in parallelism, tongue and groove floor boards 24-being laid acrpss the floor beams with their ends resting on the horizontal sides of the sills 11. As shown in Fig. 9' these sills are raised above the level of the ledges of the sills 12 by a distance equal to the width of the floor beam 23.

The ends of the floor boards are securely held in position by a preferably iron strip 30 which extends across their ends adjacent to the vertical side of the sill -11 and is clamped in position by bolts 31 placed at intervals which extend through the horizon tal ledge of the sill as well as through the floor boards and the clamping strip.

The roof of the buildingmay be of any suitable structure but I prefer to secure angle beams 40 toone pair of opposite crown beams 15, and provide central uprights 41, a ridge beam 42 supported thereon and a plurality of rafters 43. The ridge beam 42 is similar to the beams 40, the angles between their sidesbeing determined by the length of the center beams 41 .and the slope of the roof. The rafters are preferably T-beams supported with their flatsurfaces outward.

Openings for windows and doors may be provided in any suitable manner. As shown in Fig. 2 a door opening is provided by omitting several of the uprights 14 and insert ing a cross beam 14 In order to complete the exterior of the building overlapping sheets 35 of corrugated iron are secured to the flat outer surfaces of the channel-shaped uprights 14 by means of bolts which extend through the two thicknesses of sheet metal then through the body of the channel beams, and are screw-threaded to receive a nut 51 which is located, when in position, within the channel, against the inner surface of the beam. The metal sheets are thus independently se- Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

cured to the uprights although the same bolts hold the inner wall covering in position, the bolts being of sufficient length to extend inwardly beyond the sides of the channel beams for this purpose.

The inside of the walls of the building are covered by sheets 45 of composition board material which are arranged to abut with their edges opposite the centers of the channel beams and the ends of the bolts 50 extend through or between them. The joints between the board sheets are covered by ornamental. strips 55 which, as shown in Fig. 5, are sufficiently wide to extend beyond the sides of the channel beams and are provided with holes through which the bolts 50 extend. The strips are held in position by ornamental cap nuts 53 which are screwed onto the ends of the bolts 50 to hold. the strips in position and to securely clamp the board sheets between these strips and the channel beams.

For the exterior I prefer to utilize a corrugated sheet metalwhich has a protective coating. This may be of heat insulating and protecting material which protects the metal from the elements and prevents the rapid transfer of heat and cold between the interior and exterior. The interior sheets are of composition board or other suitable material which is also a poor conductor of heat, and it is well known that a dead air space such as is provided between the outer and inner Walls is a particularly effective heat insulator. Thus my improved structure is particularly adapted for use in torrid or in frigid climates where it is difiicult to keep the temperature of a house comfortable.

Two of the uprights 14 are placed close to the corner posts 13 and these serve as shown in Fig. 3, to support the corners of the interior wall covering. The sheets of corrugated sheet metal may abut or overlap at the corners of the building, or if preferred, the metal may be bent around the corner posts as shown. in Fig. 4'.

The clamping strips 30 are preferably made to fit into the space between the vertical side of the sill 11 and the board sheets which form the inner walls in order that the latter may not only be carried to the floor but also be supported against the edge of the strip as shown, in Fig. 6.

The uprights 14 which are bolted to the sills, are spaced from the ledges of the sills and permit the floor boards and the clamping strips to extend under them. This arrangement is also illustrated in Fig. 6.

In erecting the structure, the corner blocks or foundation pieces 10 will first be setin,

position, the sills 11 and 12 and the corner posts 13 will then be secured thereto, the uprights 14 secured to the sills 12 and the floor beams will then be preferably placed in position. The floor boards will next be laid and the clamping strips fastened in position. The uprights 14 which are secured to the sills 11 rest on the clamping strip 30 and are next bolted in position. The frame is then completed by securing the crown beams to the posts and the upper ends of the uprights to the crown beams.

In every instance where one part is referred to as secured to another, bolts or other means which provide a detachable connection are intended to be understood, as the idea of a completely detachable house piece by piece is a part of my invention.

The frame of the roof will be assembled in the usual manner and when this is completed the corrugated sheet metal will be secured to the rafters and to the uprights as already explained. Finally the inside board sheets will be placed in position and clamped to the uprights.

The size and arrangement of doors and windows will be determined by the uses to which the building will be put, and to its location, and since these members form no part of my present invention a brief reference to them will suffice.

The doors 60 are hinged to a pair of uprights 14 or to strips 61 which may be bolted or otherwise affixed thereto and the stationary portions of the hinges covered and protected by the outside sheet metal.

Windows such as designated by may be located in desired parts of the building.

The size and shape of the house may of course be varied within the scope of my invention but one of the advantages of my invention arises from the fact that none of the parts is large or heavy and hence the dismantled building may be packed in small space and convenient packages so that it can be easily transported by men or animals when necessity demands. No nails are used in the structure, but all of the fasteners are such as can be readily loosened.

What I claim is:

1. A wall structure comprising a plurality of spaced beams, overlapping sheet metal on one side thereof, abutting sheets of board material on the other side, strips over the joints of the board sheets, and through bolts for maintaining the relative position of the parts, said bolts having means for securing the sheet metal to the beams independently of the board sheets and the holding strips.

2. A wall structure comprising a plurality of substantially parallel channel-shaped beams, overlapping sheet metalon the fiat side of the channel beams, sheets of board material abutting one another between the sides of the channel beams, ornamental strips over the joints in the board sheets, and overlapping the sides of the channel beams, and through bolts for maintaining the relative position of the parts, one nut on each bolt for securing the sheet metal to the beams independently of the .boardsheets, and another nut for clamping the strip and the adjacent v edges of the board sheets to the sides of the channel beams.

3. A wall structure comprising a plurality of parallel channel-shaped beams, corrugated overlapping metal sheets on one side, plain abutting sheets of board material on the other side, an ornamental strip over the butt-joint in the boardsheets overlapping the beams, through bolts for maintaining the relative position of the parts, a'nut on each bolt located in the channel of the beam for independently securing the metal sheets thereto, and an ornamental nut for securing 15 the board sheets and the ornamental strip to the beam.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 14th day of December, 1912. 20

ROBERT I. JOHNS.

Witnesses:

F. GnAvEs, G. R. QUIMBY. 

